I tried finding out whether that "having a single number type" actually were true (the microcomputer versions used a percentage sign suffix (I%, J%) to denote integers).
Off topic: in that PDF (page 4) the letter "Oh" is distinguished from the numeral "Zero" by having a diagonal slash through the"Oh". Yes, that program printed "NØ UNIQUE SØLUTIØN".
That made me think of the periodic rants here on HN about the supposedly neigh insurmountable inconsistencies in mathematical notation.
Not all microcomputer versions of BASIC used the percent sign to designate integers. The one I grew up using (Microsoft BASIC on the TRS-80 Color Computer) used only one representation for numbers, floating point (5 byte value, not IEEE 754 based).
From http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dartmouth/BASIC_Oct64..., that appears to be the case.
Off topic: in that PDF (page 4) the letter "Oh" is distinguished from the numeral "Zero" by having a diagonal slash through the"Oh". Yes, that program printed "NØ UNIQUE SØLUTIØN".
That made me think of the periodic rants here on HN about the supposedly neigh insurmountable inconsistencies in mathematical notation.